Toggle a light

The Toggle action flips a light to the opposite state. If the light is off, it turns on. If it’s on, it turns off. This is handy for a single button or a motion sensor that should cycle a light without you having to know what state it’s in.

When Toggle turns a light on, you can also set the brightness, color, color temperature, or a transition at the same time, just like you would with Turn on. Those options are ignored when Toggle turns the light off.

Using this action from the user interface

If you prefer building automations and scripts visually, Home Assistant walks you through this action step by step. You pick what to target, tweak a few options, and save. No YAML knowledge required.

To toggle a light from an automation or a script:

1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
2. Open an existing automation or script, or select Create to start a new one.
3. If you’re setting up a new automation, add a trigger in the When section. Scripts don’t need a trigger. They run when something else calls them.
4. In the Then do section, select Add action.
5. From the search box, search for and select Light: Toggle.
6. Under Targets, choose what you want to toggle:
   • To toggle a specific light, select the entity.
   • To toggle every light in a room, select an area.
   • To toggle every light on a floor, select a floor.
   • To toggle lights sharing a tag, select a label.
7. Optional: under Advanced options, set the brightness, color, color temperature, or transition that should apply when the light turns on.
8. Select Save.

Options in the UI

Using this action in YAML

If you work directly in YAML, or you want to know exactly what Home Assistant does under the hood, this section has the technical reference. It lists the field names you use in YAML, their types, and which ones are required.

In YAML, refer to this action as light.toggle. A basic example looks like this:

action: light.toggle
target:
  entity_id: light.hallway

This flips light.hallway to the opposite state.

Options in YAML

YAML sometimes provides additional options for more complex use cases that are not available through the UI.

Targets

This action supports targets. A target tells Home Assistant what the action should act on. You can point it at a single entityAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more], a device, an area, a floor, or a label, and Home Assistant runs the action on every matching light entity behind that target.

• Entity: one specific light entity, such as light.living_room.
• Device: every light entity that belongs to a device.
• Area: every light entity in a room or area.
• Floor: every light entity on a floor.
• Label: every light entity that shares a label.

You can also mix target types in one call. For example, combine a specific entity with an area to run the action on both at once.

Good to know

• The Toggle action works on any light entityAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more], such as bulbs, groups, fixtures, or strips.
• When Toggle turns a light on, any brightness, color, or transition options you set are applied. When it turns a light off, those options are ignored.
• If you use Toggle on a group of lights, each light in the group flips its own state. Some lights may turn on while others turn off. To treat a group as one unit, create a dedicated light group first.
• If you already know the state you want, use Turn on a light or Turn off a light instead. They make the intent clearer in the automation’s name.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Open Developer tools > Actions, search for this action, fill in the fields, and select Perform action. You see what happens on your actual entitiesAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more] without writing a line of YAML.

More examples

Real scenarios where this action shows up in automations and scripts. Copy any example and adapt it to your setup.

Action: flip the hallway light with a single button press

Wire a physical button or a dashboard tile to a single toggle action so it acts like a light switch.

• Action: Light: Toggle
• Target: Hallway light

action: light.toggle
target:
  entity_id: light.hallway

Action: toggle the kitchen light to a warm white tone

When the toggle turns the kitchen light on, have it come up dim and warm instead of at full blast.

• Action: Light: Toggle
• Target: Kitchen light
• Brightness percentage: 40
• Color: warm_white

action: light.toggle
target:
  entity_id: light.kitchen
data:
  brightness_pct: 40
  color_name: warm_white

Automation: toggle the hallway light with a physical button

Keep a smart button on the wall and flip the hallway light whenever you press it. A great way to add a light switch where there isn’t one.

• Trigger: Device: Button pressed
• Action: Light: Toggle
• Target: Hallway light

alias: "Hallway button toggle"
triggers:
  - trigger: state
    entity_id: event.hallway_button
  - trigger: event
    event_type: zha_event
    event_data:
      device_ieee: "00:11:22:33:44:55:66:77"
      command: "single"
actions:
  - action: light.toggle
    target:
      entity_id: light.hallway

Automation: toggle the bathroom light on motion

When the bathroom motion sensor fires, flip the light. The next motion event flips it back, so you can also use the same automation to cut the light when you leave.

• Trigger: Motion sensor detects motion
• Action: Light: Toggle
• Target: Bathroom light

alias: "Toggle bathroom light on motion"
triggers:
  - trigger: state
    entity_id: binary_sensor.bathroom_motion
    to: "on"
actions:
  - action: light.toggle
    target:
      entity_id: light.bathroom

Automation: toggle the pantry light when the door opens

When the pantry door opens, flip the light. Close the door and the same trigger flips it back off the next time around.

• Trigger: Door sensor opens
• Action: Light: Toggle
• Target: Pantry light

alias: "Toggle pantry light on door"
triggers:
  - trigger: state
    entity_id: binary_sensor.pantry_door
    to: "on"
actions:
  - action: light.toggle
    target:
      entity_id: light.pantry

Still stuck?

The Home Assistant community is quick to help: join Discord for real-time chat, post on the community forum with the action you’re calling and what you expected to happen, or share on our subreddit /r/homeassistant.

Related actions

These actions work well alongside this one:

• Turn on a light - Turn a light on. Optionally set brightness, color, color temperature, an effect, or a transition.

• Turn off a light - Turn a light off. Optionally fade it out with a transition, or have it flash briefly before it goes dark.